New Year's resolutions - what's yours?

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Permalink Reply by Liz on January 4, 2011 at 14:55

Thanks Rachel, that's much more like the reading material that I prefer to wile away an odd moment. Positive, do-able and guaranteed to bring about small but important changes.

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Permalink Reply by Rachel Fisher on January 4, 2011 at 15:21

Having just been back home to the US, and to be specific Texas and Kansas, I was really struck by how lucky I am to live in Harringay. All of the suggestions in that article are things that are remarkably easy to do. Particularly the local shopping.

When I was at home it was physically impossible for me to get a pint of milk without a car. Whereas here, it's literally at the end my street.

Also, because of HOL I've come to know more of my neighbours, which is surely a good thing.

So all in all I'm starting the year off in a fairly happy place :)

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Permalink Reply by Liz on January 4, 2011 at 21:13

I love just wandering the streets and having a point and shoot camera in my pocket. After a particularly bad week of fly tipping etc, I got quite dispirited about the area. I cured it by resolving to take a photo of something good in the area every day (sort of like a gratitude journal, I think they call them). It soon changes your mind about a place, noticing tiny details and recording them.

Will, Tottenham High Road has some fine facades and Georgian views, the Lea Valley is lovely but West Green Road also needs its champions. Get a free Flickr account and start posting things you like when you are out on your walks. It can be like time travel focusing on the old things and seeing the bits from the past or even taking delight in something new and good that you didn't spot before.

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Permalink Reply by Liz on January 5, 2011 at 10:21

Part of the process of rehabilitation of any area is putting it in touch with its past again.

Before Hugh started this Harringay online malarky, the only information you could get about Harringay was that it was poor and crime-ridden.

Wherever you looked, Wikipedia or even the council website gave out the same message. Hugh was a bit miffed about this and set about putting the record straight. That's why Harringay has one of the most detailed Wikipedia entries of any area in Haringey. There is an article on the BBC h2g2 site explaining its origins, and the council has changed its rather grim entry for a much more positive one. 

Another part is celebrating its present, (even if that seems at times to be quite difficult). Your neighbourhood has the lovely Downhills Park, the Fountain pub, a discreet but tidy 'village green' with a lovely little war memorial, some pretty Victorian schools. A quick search on Flickr brings up some nice shots - they need a group to go in like the Harringay one. 

I know you'll roll your eyes at the mention of Twitter but some areas are making good use of it to promote their local space, including Noel Park, Varty Road, Wood Green, Parkside Malvern, Bowes and Bounds, Muswell Hill, Crouch End, Stroud Green. There's a list of local tweeters here . Why not resurrect your old Twitter account, change it to West Green and use it to post positive stuff and information out?

It can be a struggle at times to see beyond the crap. The best beloved Passage looks like a rank little alley at the moment because so much stuff has been dumped and it hasn't been swept for a few days, but we know it can be a different place given the love, someone even made a book about it 

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